We focus our audit activities on strategically important and particularly risky suppliers. They are routinely audited every two to three years. This group includes roughly 250 of our 25 000 or so active suppliers. Together, they cover around 80 percent of our procurement volume. These audits give us transparency about the risks in large parts of our supply chain.
The majority of the audits are conducted within the scope of Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC). The audits cover the following areas:
The JAC Guidelines require, among other things, that our suppliers:
Pay a fair wage that enables employees to enjoy a decent standard of living;
Respect the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and provide a healthy, safe working environment and
Do not exceed a 48-hour working week and a weekly maximum of twelve hours’ overtime, and grant at least one free day after six consecutive days of working.
Compliance with all these requirements is reviewed regularly during our on-site audits. This also includes inspection of the features and quality of the working, sleeping, and cafeteria areas.
Deutsche Telekom does not require its suppliers to obtain external environmental or social certification. But if suppliers cannot show any environmental and social responsibility certificates, we do expect equivalent management systems to be used. Our auditing experience shows, however, that the majority of our relevant manufacturing suppliers have an external certificate or equivalent management systems.
Verification of important social and ecological aspects as well as fundamental human rights during our audits is in line with internationally recognized guidelines and standards such as the ILO core labor standards, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
We focus our audit
activities on strategically important and particularly risky suppliers. They are routinely audited every two to three years. This group includes roughly 250 of our 25 000 or so active suppliers. Together, they cover around 80 percent of our procurement volume. These audits 
give us transparency about the risks in large parts of our supply chain.
The majority of the audits are conducted within the scope of Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC). The audits cover the following areas:
The JAC Guidelines require, among other things, that our suppliers:
Compliance with all these requirements is reviewed regularly during our on-site audits. This also includes inspection of the features and quality of the working, sleeping, and cafeteria areas.
Deutsche Telekom does not require its suppliers to obtain external environmental or social certification. But if suppliers cannot show any environmental and social responsibility certificates, we do expect equivalent management systems to be used. Our auditing experience shows, however, that the majority of our relevant manufacturing suppliers have an external certificate or equivalent management systems.
Verification of important social and ecological aspects as well as fundamental human rights during our audits is in line with internationally recognized guidelines and standards such as the ILO
core labor standards, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD 
Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Reporting against standardsGlobal Compact